How to make good strings?

sen · Post by **sen** » 03 Jun 2005 12:44

How do you make good strings?

When I shred I ussually just get one string in mind and try to hit that for the entire session, it gets really boring, but I can't just pick up the bag and start a string and have it flow along and come out nicely, or even go for more than a couple contacts. I'll hit a few moves and then just not know what to do next and drop.

How do you plan out a string while your playing?

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 03 Jun 2005 12:58

Sounds like you might be trying to play above your level. If you're aiming for tiltless strings and only getting a few contacts in, let go of the need to dex the bag each move

. Try doing long strings of delays, inside, outside and toe, and throwing dexes in occasionally. It'll be a lot less frustrating, and you'll learn faster like that too. Gradually increase the frequency of the dexing moves, as long as you can still keep long strings going.

I mean, if Vasek never tried to do anything while shredding other than whilygig > arch-nemesis > rpt, how quickly do you hink he'd get frustrated? I'd imagine that this (insane) combo might not be THAT far off for the guy, but if he spent all his time at it, would he really be building his game?

sen · Post by **sen** » 03 Jun 2005 13:00

I'm really confortable with dexes and can hit some fairly long strings AS LONG AS I PLAN THEM OUT and memorize them ahead of time. This leaves me doing the same string over and over because I can't just PLAY and make up strings.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 03 Jun 2005 13:05

I'm not sure, but I think the same thing might still apply. Tone down the intensity a little, and the strings will flow. Top tier players still throw BOPs into their strings, for the sake of regaining control / balance / breath. Lon Smith has probably hit 10+ fearless a bunch of times, but that hardly means he does it each time he touches the bag. When he improves, the difficulty has to go down a notch.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 03 Jun 2005 13:37

To me freestyle footbag is a lot like Jazz improv. You may be making the run up on the spot but a lot of what you're doing is stuff you've practiced before. Drill some combos you really like - think of it like a riff. Then when you freestyle it's just a matter of putting the riffs together. So if you've been drilling dlo>drifter>pdx whirl lots, when you hit a dlo it will feel natural to hit a drifter out. Sometimes you'll get so caught up in the shred that you'll find yourself hitting stuff you've never practiced - maybe never tried and if you lose the flow you can always bail into some stuff that feel familiar.

crazydwarf · Post by **crazydwarf** » 03 Jun 2005 13:55

for the start of my strings I usually hit something I want to hit because i know if I drop it I won't be mad. Then tricks usually just kind of flow, but if I really am stuck I'll just start doing infinities or butterfly > pdx. mirage until I think of something.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 03 Jun 2005 14:02

yeah that's a good call. You watch enough footage of most players and you'll recognise that they're hitting either specific combos moves or what I call "fill" - fill is stuff that you've got down really well and it builds up momentum for something big. What's considered "fill" really depends on what your level is. For me it's mainly non fearless shuffle moves - stuff like ripwalk>blur>smear>pixie swtich>pixie butterfly etc. - that's stuff I don't need to think about to hit. Then I'll think of a move or combo I want to hit - so I'll build into it with a move I know I can hit into the move or combo. So if I want to hit a whirlygig in the run - I'll probably think of the move - get my balance and hit an easy move like pixie clipper into the whirlygig - then I'll probably bail to osis or pdx mirage - then another bail and then back into fill. Sometimes I'll have a specific move to hit out of the whirlygig - like ps whirl or bs symp blur - and if I'm playing really well - I'll hit one of those moves without thinking about it. Otherwise I'll bail to a bop no matter how well I hit the whirlygig - just because that's what I feel comfortable hitting out of it - that's what feels natural.

Jas · Post by **Jas** » 05 Jun 2005 23:32

to get into the flow of things, just try to think of a cool move to do next while ur in the middle of doing a relaxed trick of ur skill level and hopefully ull get a nice rythem going. And also, someone already said this i think it was jeremy, to put a couple of 'riff's in ur strings, combos that u are quite familiar with.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 05 Jun 2005 23:50

Jeremy is on it.

I also recommend being very conscious of your breathing. If you are playing relaxed, and you are breathing throughout, you can get more creative.

FootbagginBum · Post by **FootbagginBum** » 06 Jun 2005 02:40

Yeah he is, but come on, Jeremy bailing to osis? Who you trying to kid

For great examples of filler, watch the vegas vid and see how many butterfly>pardox mirage 's I do on my left. One in almost every run, if not more. On the bright side, I shuffle most of the time and make up for it.

The only other thing I can say, which has been said many times before, is get good at doing every trick into every other trick. Just say "hmm, blank to blank would be good to work" where the blanks are your harder to link tricks, and hit it 10 times. Over time, you'll have all your tricks practiced this way, and you'll be able to always pick out any random trick midrun and hit it to any other random trick without a problem. Then everything goes from difficulty to style. You can DO whatever you want, but what WILL you hit? What ever looks cool? Whatevers easiest? Whatever people want to see? I think if you always try to hit the things you do the least, and make them look cool, in every run, you will always be doing different tricks and testing and pushing your limits. Its good to go for length with stalls/bails too, but have your shit down pat and its all cake.

And that is what I call advice

Peace,
Bum

sen · Post by **sen** » 06 Jun 2005 06:34

Thanks for all the reply's guys. I really like Jeremy's riff's thing. I used to blue harmonica and did some blue's improv so I know about riff's. I think that will really help me. Thanks to everyone as well, all the suggestions were great!